US-bound passengers can expect security workers to take a closer look at their shoes. (AP Photo/Ann Johansson, File)

(Newser)
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Passengers flying to the US from certain overseas airports can expect tighter scrutiny starting within a few days. Officials say the Transportation Security Administration has been ordered to "implement enhanced security measures" amid fears that terrorists are developing "creative," hard-to-detect bombs, CNN reports. The tighter measures will mainly involve airports in Europe and the Middle East and passengers may face closer inspection of shoes, electronics, and other personal items, as well as a possible extra stage of security at boarding gates, officials say.

The extra measures could also include additional bomb-detection machines, officials tell Reuters, which notes that the main security concern appears to be fighters in the Middle East with Western passports trying to blow up US-bound flights. Security experts say the stepped-up measures don't necessarily mean evidence of a specific plot has been detected, the Guardian notes. "This could be an example of someone at the Department for Homeland Security watching carefully and putting two and two together and coming up with five," says a British aviation analyst who predicts that the measures will cause plenty of delays for passengers flying to the US from busy airports.